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The UK has (essentially) one PSAP for the whole country (it's not actually — there's a number spread across the country for reasons of redundancy, but call allo
by gsnedders 12y ago
The UK has (essentially) one PSAP for the whole country (it's not actually — there's a number spread across the country for reasons of redundancy, but call allocations are done across the whole network).
It has a few interesting results — most notably, when giving a location, they likely know nothing about it. If you say you're in "Central Park, Fakesville", and it's a small park where you can see the whole thing from the entrance, they will still ask you where about in the park you are — because they don't know. People in high-stress situations can end up wasting time trying to describe in gratuitous detail where they are, instead of just giving an answer like, "it's small; they'll see".
I'm surprised that the situation wasn't handled better by the phones, though. At least here, if a mobile can contact any tower (regardless of network), an emergency call can be placed through it without charge. I suppose if the emergency line is already stagnated, trying again on a different network would just make it worse. Hmm…
- M2Ys4U 12y agoA month or two ago I had to call 999 to report a fire on my road. I gave the names of my road and neighbourhood and the operator asked which town or city I was in. This threw me a little as I live in what is, arguably, the UK's second city (Manchester) and assumed that the system would have at least identified that much from the cell tower. Still, the fire brigade responded within 5-10 minutes of me placing the call and had the blaze under control little more than 10 minutes after that so I guess the system works.
- gsnedders 12y agoThey almost certainly had it on the screen in front of them. They typically ask for full details anyway, primarily to confirm. City often gets asked separately to make sure the report gets to the right place.
- kiiski 12y agoI don't think it really matters if people describe the place in too much detail; the ambulance/whatever is already heading for the central park and the extra directions are just relayed to them on the way.
- gsnedders 12y agoIf the caller needs to be giving instructions as to care for the injured person, it can delay it. There are genuine reasons why you want the dispatching section of the call over ASAP.